Although Luke Puskedra and Ben Johnson have graduated, the competition promises to be just as fierce this year as it was at last year's NTN SW regional. Photo by Margot Kelly.
Final race assignments for Saturday's NXN SW showdown are now available for viewing at:
http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=pyKecN3wpw4I7YYLtcAAJLA
Please note: although the race assignments are listed as "final" there are still some issues with the document and, minimally, some cosmetic changes will still need to be made.
The boys championship race features New Mexico powers Cibola, Albuquerque Academy, and Los Alamos, plus the Eldorado team featuring twins Bryce and Kevin Palmer. Rio Rancho, Gallup and Sandia will also be coming from the Land of Enchantment. From Utah, it appears to be a very strong field with Alta, Timpview, American Fork, Davis, Park City, and Mountain View all making the trip down. Alta was simply dominant at this year's Utah state meet, but Timpview and American Fork should be bringing very solid entries as well. Wyoming will be represented by traditional powers Campbell County, featuring Dominick Robinson, and Rock Springs. Nevada sends Shadow Ridge and Sierra Lutheran. Arizona will be represented by Mingus Union, Desert Vista, Catalina, Catalina Foothils, and Rio Rico. Brian Shrader does not appear among the Arizona entries. And, finally, the Colorado entries in the boys championship race include Wheat Ridge and Falcon.
The girls championship race features the runaway 5A state champion Rio Rancho from New Mexico, plus entries from Albuquerque Academy (AA currently lists only three names on their entry, however, with Clara Milne's name conspicuously missing), Eldorado, La Cueva, Gallup, and Los Alamos. From Wyoming, the teams of Sheridan and Cheyenne Central will be making the trip. Shadow Ridge and Centennial High Schools out of Las Vegas will be representing Nevada. Utah sends the powerful Davis, Mountain Crest, Park City, and Mountain View squads. Although no other Utah schools are listed for the championship race, these four should make it plenty interesting. Danielle Menlove appears as an individual entry from Utah. The host state of Arizona will be represented by Sandra Day O'Connor, Ironwood Ridge, and Flagstaff. Jessica Tonn of Xavier Prep does appear on the final list of entries. Finally, Colorado will be represented in the championship race by Fort Collins, Thompson Valley, Highlands Ranch, Mullen, Dakota Ridge, and The Classical Academy. Katie Vanatta does not appear on the list of individuals for the Dakota Ridge entry.